Cap or withe fob



. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. SIKES, OF PLYMOUTH, NORTH CAROLINA.

CAP 0R WITHE FOR THE MASTS OF VESSELS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 11,461, dated August 1, 1854.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. W. SIKES, of Plymouth, in the county of Washington and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Withes for the Tops ofthe Fore and Main Masts of Fore-and-Aft Vessels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and of the method heretofore practiced in making and using the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part thereof, in which- Figure l, represents the method now practiced of making and using the withes, and Fig. 2 represents my improved plan.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawlngs.

In Fig. l, A represents a fore or main mast, and B, a top most, passing through a ring or eye in the upper withe C, which is placed over the topf of the mast A. The topy mast may be stepped into the crosstrees in any of the well known ways. a. is an eye in the withe C, to which the spring-stay, or top-man lift block D, is hooked, over which the stay E, passes. Underneath the top withe C, and about a foot therefrom is another withe F, to an eye in which is hooked the peak-block G. In both these withes C, F, the eyes have been wrought in the solid metal, and whenever said eyes become worn, even to the extent of making them liable to give way, the wholewithe must be removed, which is both troublesome and expensive particularly at sea.

Now the nature of my invention consists in so constructing a single withe, as to serve all the purposes, of the two as heretofore described, and in so connecting with it, all

the parts liable to be worn by chang, as that they can be removed and replaced without dlsturbing the withe on the mast head, and thus by carrying spare stock in the vessel to be able to meet any emergency in connection with this part of the vessels rigging.

'Fig 2, represents a perspective view of my improved wthe, turned on its side so as to represent all its parts. ll-I, is the part fitting over the mast head and I, the hole through which the top-mast passes. J, is a main bar properly secured to the jaws c c of the withe by screw bolts ci, (Z. The main bar J, is of an L form, being secured at its anOle to the withe, and it is-provided at the en s of each of its arms with shackles K, K, to the former of which (K) the spring stay or foreman lift block may behooked, and to the other one (K,) the peak block, and thus avoid the necessity of two withes, as in Fig. 1. The shackles, are put on by screw bolts e, and when they become worn or chafed, may be removed and replaced without disturbing the withe on the mast. The screw bolts should have eyes in their heads instead of nicks, so that with a marlin spike, they may be removed and replaced at any time.

It frequently happens that in a single voyage, the eye of the withe, if not chafed through, is so worn as to make it unreliable, and as a m-atter of caution, unt for use, and by constructing the shackles, main bar and withe after my plan, by having spare stock aboard, any portion may be removed and replaced by others at sea or in port.

Having thus fully described the nature of my invention, and shown wherein it differs from what has heretofore been done, what I claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The construction of a withe with a main bar and shackles substantially as described, so that one with will serve all the purpose of the two heretofore used, and so that all its wearing or chang parts may be removed and replaced by others without disturbing it on the mast, as set forth.

J. W. SIKES. 

